


In Another Life

by blueeyeswhitedecim



Category: Death Parade (Anime)
Genre: AU, F/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 15:39:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3815842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueeyeswhitedecim/pseuds/blueeyeswhitedecim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Decim finds a familiar face on a cold day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for some friends who wanted Decim and Chiyuki meeting in another life but I kinda FuCkeD it at the end sorry

Decim navigated the freezing city sidewalks quickly, twisting to fit through crowds of people, shoulders brushing those of strangers in thick coats as he hurried down a path he had only taken once before to a bar that he applied for a manager position at when he first moved to this new town only a week ago. It had been nighttime when the tired, dark-haired part time manager sat him down and asked him about his experience in bars. In the daylight, everything looked much different in the city. Decim was about fifty percent sure he had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but a voice in the back of his mind urged him to keep going. He would find what he was searching for.  


A usually punctual young man, Decim was so unusually late this morning because he had slept in. He had been having a chillingly vivid dream about a dim bar, lit in soft shades of purple and blue, and a blue-haired woman. His dreams tended to be fuzzy and peculiar, or impossible to remember altogether. But this time, it was as if he had been actually talking to the woman. Or he was recalling some strange, forgotten memory. Memories of alien drinks and string as fine as spider’s thread, a ghostly roulette and dark figures looming in overhead balconies. Somewhere in the mix, there were faces that had once been friendly, including the blue-haired woman. The one who had urged him to leave that bar and told him that this was not his destiny, he should use his human emotions as a human, they would be fine without him.  


_“But arbiters cannot-“ Decim had argued, only to be cut off with a wave of the woman’s fine hand._  


_“Decim, I have been managing this building since before anyone had any idea to create you. I have seen many arbiters, and you are not one of them. She proved that to me.” The same hand that interrupted him fell upon his own, clasping it in a warm hold. “I know that you want to understand her, but to understand a human will take a lifetime. So I’m giving you that opportunity. The elevator is already prepared.”_  


_“And Oculus?” he asked, a split-second image of green and black eyes flashing in his mind._  


_“I’ll deal with it.” She smiled, and removed her hand. With a minute’s thought, he removed his apron and followed silently down the corridor, around the corner to where two elevators loomed down on them. The door to the one underneath the white mask opened for Decim, and with one last look back down that hall, and a thought for a black-haired woman with a radiant smile, he stepped in._

  


Decim came back to his senses just as he was about to collide with a mean looking man clutching a briefcase, yelling into a cellphone. Decim stumbled around him, earning him a glare from the man as he continued to shout into the mouthpiece. The city never stopped moving. In the few seconds he took to recollect his thoughts, try to figure out where he was, and push away the memory of that beautiful black-haired woman, people pushed and bumped past him, never sparing more than a second’s glance before hurrying on. Nobody would stop to give him directions. Frustrated and running even more late, he continued on his way.  


He heard a female voice shouting up ahead. Something about donating money to the local ice rink. Above the heads of the crowd, Decim saw a pink flyer clutched in a fist, advertising to the pedestrians who didn’t pay any mind. He had no time to stop and ask about the donations, either. He was ready to cross the road when, from the corner of his eye, he heard a pained yell and saw pink flyers scatter across the sidewalk, wafting into the streets at oncoming cars. Decim immediately stopped in mid-step and turned around to see what had happened. In a sea of flyers was the young woman on her knees, head down and muttering curses under her breath as she grabbed for her papers. Nobody stopped to help her, it was as if they didn’t even see her. She looked up and watched them go by, purple eyes narrowed against the sun. Deep in Decim’s memories, a bell chimed, and the voice that had urged him along earlier now sighed happily as he watched her. Forgetting work and how lost he was, he knelt down to help her.  


“Are you alright, ma’am?” he asked, immediately trying to salvage what flyers hadn’t been trampled. He didn’t meet her eyes but could feel her watching him, and he briefly wondered if he seemed familiar as well. Reincarnation had always been an idea he played with, but it seemed like a very real possibility as ghosts of an odd past danced through his thoughts.  


“I’m fine,” she replied, a bit delayed and distant. “I’m just so clumsy today. I’m a professional ice skater, you would think I’d have a little more grace.”  


They stood, and Decim awkwardly handed the flyers back to her. She took them with a smile, but wasn’t eager to get back on her step. They continued to stand on the sidewalk facing each other, neither saying a thing but Decim not quite ready to go yet.  


“You seem very familiar,” he told her finally. With another smile, she pushed a strand of flyaway hair behind her ear and met his eyes.  


“I was just thinking the same thing. But I’m sure I would have remembered you.” She shook her head. “Sorry, that’s weird to say. You just have very interesting eyes. I feel like I have seen them before.”  


Why did that comment make his ears go pink? Trying to blame the cold, he tugged on his scarf a little. “My name is Decim. It’s not a very common name.”  


“It does ring a bell,” replied the woman. “I’m Chiyuki.”  
_Miss Chiyuki._  
_Are you glad you lived?_  
Stunned by the thought, Decim nodded suddenly. “I do think our paths have crossed at one point.”  


“Yeah? Because I think so too,” she answered, and smiled. The cold didn’t seem so bitter when she did.  
…  


With Chiyuki’s help, Decim made it to his first day on the job. And when he got off that afternoon, she was back and treated him to dinner. At the same time, in an unidentified tower on a completely different plane of existence, a blue-haired woman and others the two had once known watched the story unfold on a space-themed pool table and silently cheered as the former arbiter and his assistant fell in love all over again.


End file.
